Chad-Production Factors

MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

In 1988 the entirety of Chad's cotton was produced in
the five
soudanian prefectures of Mayo-Kebbi, Tandjilé,
Logone
Occidental, Logone Oriental, and Moyen-Chari, plus the
Bousso
region of Chari-Baguirmi Prefecture, which juts down into
the
soudanian zone
(see
fig. 1). Few regions outside
these
prefectures offered sufficient water and population to
sustain
cotton production. Moreover, in this land of difficult
transport,
areas producing a cash crop also needed to be able to grow
enough
food for their people. Typically, the cultivation of
cotton and
food crops was carried on side by side. Efforts to extend
the
cultivation of cotton to the neighboring sahelian
prefectures of Salamat and Guéra have had little success.
In 1983
and 1984, with production at its highest in a decade,
these two
prefectures represented only .005 percent of total
production.
Suggestions also have been made from time to time to bring
cotton
production to the fertile borders of Lake Chad. Trials
have shown
the high yields possible there, estimated at 3,000 to
4,000
kilograms per hectare. As of 1987, however, farmers in the
Lake
Chad area had not taken voluntarily to cotton production.
Traditionally, farmers have resisted government efforts to
control
local production of such crops as wheat, and the history
of
coercion and government intervention associated with
cotton was no
inducement.

The government has introduced methods to increase crop
yield,
which include the expanded use of fertilizers and
insecticides.
Even so, compared with crop yields of more than 1,000
kilograms per
hectare for other francophone West African states (such as
Cameroon, Mali, and Côte d'Ivoire), until 1982 Chad's crop
yields
did not significantly exceed 500 kilograms per hectare;
from 1983
to 1987, yields averaged almost 750 kilograms per hectare.

Area under cotton cultivation reached a peak in 1963 of
338,900
hectares. From 1963 until the end of the 1970s, the area
under
cotton cultivation averaged 275,000 hectares. In the
1980s,
however, the area has been consistently less than 200,000
hectares.
By 1983 the area of land under cotton cultivation had
dropped by 36
percent from the average during the 1960s and 1970s.
Several
sources estimated the area in southern Chad under cotton
cultivation at 30 to 40 percent of all land in
cultivation, and in
some areas of Mayo-Kebbi Prefecture, it may have been
higher (see
table 3, Appendix A).

Cotton production has exhibited wide swings. Factors
such as
climatic conditions, production prices, and civil strife
have
influenced production. The first crop to exceed 100,000
tons came
in 1963, but the 1970s were the best years for production,
which
from 1971 to 1978 remained well above 100,000 tons per
year. Chad
reached its all-time record production in 1975. Production
suffered
from 1979 to 1982 because of the Chadian Civil War and hit
a
twenty-year low in 1981. In 1983, with the return of some
political
stability and higher market prices, production improved
but then
fell from 1984 to 1987, a reflection of declining world
cotton
prices.

Once the crop is harvested, the producers must sort the
cotton
to separate lower quality yellow cotton from higher
quality white
cotton. Since the late 1970s, the proportion of white
cotton
generally has been 90 percent or more of total production.
Going
back to the 1960s, the quality of Chadian cotton had been
consistently high, except for 1972 and 1973, when the
proportion of
yellow cotton rose to 18 percent. Since 1980 the quality
has
remained high at initial sorting, with white cotton
representing
more than 95 percent of the crop and accounting for 98
percent of
production in 1984.

Chad, part of France's African holdings until 1960, endured three decades of civil warfare as well as invasions by Libya before a semblance of peace was finally restored in 1990. The government eventually drafted a democratic constitution, and held flawed presidential elections in 1996 and 2001. In 1998, a rebellion broke out in northern Chad, which has sporadically flared up despite several peace agreements between the government and the rebels. In 2005, new rebel groups emerged in western Sudan and made probing attacks into eastern Chad, despite signing peace agreements in December 2006 and October 2007. Power remains in the hands of an ethnic minority. In June 2005, President Idriss DEBY held a referendum successfully removing constitutional term limits and won another controversial election in 2006. Sporadic rebel campaigns continued throughout 2006 and 2007, and the capital experienced a significant rebel threat in early 2008.

passed by referendum 31 March 1996; a June 2005 referendum removed constitutional term limits

Legal system

based on French civil law system and Chadian customary law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal

Executive branch

chief of state: President Lt. Gen. Idriss DEBY Itno (since 4 December 1990)head of government: Prime Minister Youssof Saleh ABBAS (since 16 April 2008)cabinet: Council of State, members appointed by the president on the recommendation of the prime ministerelections: president elected by popular vote to serve five-year term; if no candidate receives at least 50% of the total vote, the two candidates receiving the most votes must stand for a second round of voting; last held 3 May 2006 (next to be held by May 2011); prime minister appointed by the presidentelection results: Lt. Gen. Idriss DEBY Itno reelected president; percent of vote - Lt. Gen. Idriss DEBY 64.7%, Delwa Kassire KOUMAKOYE 15.1%, Albert Pahimi PADACKE 7.8%, Mahamat ABDOULAYE 7.1%, Brahim KOULAMALLAH 5.3%; note - a June 2005 national referendum altered the constitution removing presidential term limits and permitting Lt. Gen. Idriss DEBY Itno to run for reelection

Legislative branch

unicameral National Assembly (155 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms); note - the 1996 constitution called for a Senate that has never been formedelections: National Assembly - last held 21 April 2002 (next to be held by 2009); note - legislative elections, originally scheduled for 2006, were first delayed by National Assembly action and subsequently by an accord, signed in August 2007, between government and opposition partieselection results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - MPS 110, RDP 12, FAR 9, RNDP 5, UNDR 5, URD 3, other 11

three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and rednote: similar to the flag of Romania; also similar to the flags of Andorra and Moldova, both of which have a national coat of arms centered in the yellow band; design was based on the flag of France

Economy - overview

Chad's primarily agricultural economy will continue to be boosted by major foreign direct investment projects in the oil sector that began in 2000. At least 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood. Chad's economy has long been handicapped by its landlocked position, high energy costs, and a history of instability. Chad relies on foreign assistance and foreign capital for most public and private sector investment projects. A consortium led by two US companies has been investing $3.7 billion to develop oil reserves - estimated at 1 billion barrels - in southern Chad. Chinese companies are also expanding exploration efforts and plan to build a refinery. The nation's total oil reserves are estimated at 1.5 billion barrels. Oil production came on stream in late 2003. Chad began to export oil in 2004. Cotton, cattle, and gum arabic provide the bulk of Chad's non-oil export earnings.

Cooperation Financiere en Afrique Centrale francs (XAF) per US dollar - 447.81 (2008 est.), 480.1 (2007), 522.59 (2006), 527.47 (2005), 528.29 (2004)note: since 1 January 1999, the Central African CFA franc (XAF) has been pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA francs per euro; Central African CFA franc (XAF) coins and banknotes are not accepted in countries using West African CFA francs (XOF), and vice versa, even though the two currencies trade at par

general assessment: primitive system with high costs and low telephone density; fixed-line connections for only about 1 per 1000 persons coupled with mobile-cellular subscribership base of less than 20 per 100 personsdomestic: fair system of radiotelephone communication stationsinternational: country code - 235; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2008)

20 years of age for conscripts, with 3-year service obligation; 18 years of age for volunteers; no minimum age restriction for volunteers with consent from a guardian; women are subject to 1 year of compulsory military or civic service at age of 21 (2004)

Manpower available for military service

males age 16-49: 1,906,545females age 16-49: 2,258,758 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service

males age 16-49: 1,103,006females age 16-49: 1,315,620 (2009 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually

male: 121,080female: 121,585 (2009 est.)

Military expenditures(% of GDP)

4.2% of GDP (2006)

Disputes - international

since 2003, Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military have driven hundreds of thousands of Darfur residents into Chad; Chad remains an important mediator in the Sudanese civil conflict, reducing tensions with Sudan arising from cross-border banditry; Chadian Aozou rebels reside in southern Libya; only Nigeria and Cameroon have heeded the Lake Chad Commission's admonition to ratify the delimitation treaty, which also includes the Chad-Niger and Niger-Nigeria boundaries

current situation: Chad is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation; the majority of children are trafficked within Chad for involuntary domestic servitude, forced cattle herding, forced begging, forced labor in petty commerce or the fishing industry, or for commercial sexual exploitation; to a lesser extent, Chadian children are also trafficked to Cameroon, the Central African Republic, and Nigeria for cattle herding; children may also be trafficked from Cameroon and the Central African Republic to Chad's oil producing regions for sexual exploitationtier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Chad is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat human trafficking in 2007; Chad was destabilized during 2007 by civil conflict leading to a declared state of emergency in February 2008, and a steady influx of refugees fleeing Sudan and the Central African Republic; the government demonstrated insufficient overall efforts to combat trafficking; Chad has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)